Recently, I have been fascinated reading about significant amounts of New York state monies being designated to assist South Valley Stream for repairs to damage caused by Superstorm Sandy and for infrastructure construction in preparation for future such storms. I am fascinated because nowhere do I see references to Gibson, the most southern part of Valley Stream.

Perhaps this omission of Gibson results from the general knowledge and awareness that Gibson has no history of flooding and has, for the most part, gone unscathed by such events within memory and beyond. Of course, that begs the question why Senator Schumer, Mayor Fare and the trustees of the village accepted the newly proposed FEMA flood maps for implementation without seeking out and requiring independent scientific verification. Perhaps the senator, the mayor and trustees have some sixth sense that enables them to see high-risk flood areas in places where there is no history of flooding.

In any case, they determined that flood-zone maps leaving almost 900 homeowners in Valley Stream in the high-risk flood zone should be accepted and implemented. I would assume that they believe the maps to be accurate. It would certainly be strange and questionable if they voted to accept maps that they believed to be inaccurate. However, with that vote of acceptance, they now have an obligation to do what town and other officials are doing for residents of the unincorporated part of Valley Stream. They should be using their offices to seek all possible aid and assistance from the state and federal government for infrastructure improvements to protect the approximately 900 homes that they believe are high risk and therefore potentially in harm’s way.